


Ripples in a Pond

by devilinthedetails



Series: Spring Cherry Blossoms [1]
Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Family, Gen, Nature, Politics, References to Suicide, Yamani Court, Yamani Islands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25080124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devilinthedetails/pseuds/devilinthedetails
Summary: At the Imperial Court, Shinko and her brother make a splash.
Series: Spring Cherry Blossoms [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816384
Kudos: 12





	Ripples in a Pond

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "Making a Splash" prompt in the Fun in the Sun triathlon at Goldenlake.

Ripples in a Pond 

Shinko sat on a stone beside her brother Naoki, faces reflected in one of the Imperial gardens’ many placid ponds. Fading cherry blossoms past their prime still stubbornly clinging to the branches that provided shade against the spring sun hovered overhead. Shinko could see their diminished glory mirrored in the pond while their withered pink futures were foretold in the fallen petals that floated in the water. 

“Who knew we’d make such a splash at court?” Naoki’s finger was a brush in the pond painting waves. 

“Our parents should’ve known, because it’s our parents who made the splash at court.” Shinko felt a sharp surge of bitterness toward the people who had created her—the parents who had been ambitious as cherry blossoms and had fallen like cherry blossoms. The parents who had been accused of treason by the emperor, Shinko’s uncle, and ordered to commit ritual suicide. The parents who had abandoned her and Naoki to the cruelties of court. Snatching a pebble from the path, she tossed it into the pond’s center, creating ripples that conquered the entire pond. “Our parents were the pebbles that made the splash at court, dear brother, and we are only the ripples.”


End file.
